An opening may be formed through an automotive roof panel to discharge air from a vehicle or take external air into the vehicle. The opening may be opened or closed by a sunroof glass.
Most automotive sunroof panels are made of glass for an open feeling and an esthetic design. These sunroofs, which are formed to ventilate vehicles and provide an open feeling, undergo heat treatment to resist intensive sunlight, and are made of glass that effectively blocks ultraviolet rays and infrared rays in some cases. Further, they are often made of a high-strength material to protect passengers from fragments of glass in a collision.
A technology using solar cells for converting solar energy into electric energy has been proposed. Further, a technology for installing these solar cells on a roof panel or sunroof glass has been proposed.
However, a power transmission apparatus of a sunroof for a vehicle which uses a solar cell according to the related art directly transmits power generated by a solar cell on, or in, a sunroof glass. This arrangement may considerably restrict movement of the sunroof glass.
A sunroof glass is designed to open or close an opening of the roof of a vehicle by freely sliding forward and backward, but the power transmission system for an automotive sunroof according to the related art does not completely allow this movement. Accordingly, the solar cell cannot be fully used, or the movement of a sunroof glass is restricted in order to fully use the solar cell.
Most studies of an automotive sunroof using a solar cell according to the related art are focused on the solar cell panel itself, meaning the material, properties, and arrangement of a solar cell. Few studies are about a power transmission apparatus on a sunroof.